7-3-00 -- E Centre - Camden, New Jersey

review submisions to me, dan schar at [email protected] or [email protected]

Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2000 03:34:42 EDT
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: 7-03-00  Camden
 
As a reader of reviews for many years, I feel that it is time for me to
submit my own.  It comes late, however, I have had a few weeks to ponder and
revel in the times of a wonderful evening.  This was a twenty something show
for me -- the important factor -- my younger sister (by 6 yrs) f first show.
She got bit by the bug a week or so after the release of "Farmhouse."  After
taping a radio show for a friend, she asked me to identify the songs for
her...the next day she asked to tape everything I had (being only fifteen
w/out a job, I felt it was okay).  I have never felt more invigorated than at
the moment my Mom said she could take my extra.  The experience offered an
incredible melding of our minds while at the same time it gave me a chance to
give my little sister one of the best possible gifts I could give..an
enjoyment of Phish.
    We got stuck in a beat lot so we decided to walk.  We had a great time,
and as we Rolled to the show, I could feel that it was going to be an
exhilarating experience.
    Instead on analyzing each song, I'll just hit some High points -- The
entire first kicked ass, especially after the short one I caught at Holmdel.
As I copied down the set list for each song, I told gave sis the name and
told her the first thing that came to mind of the song.  If a story goes with
it, it's much easier to enjoy.  Trey's daughters after DWD really helped the
whole family bonding kick we had going.
    During the break we met one of the younger's friends -- a little out
there, yet still enlightened the experience.
    Second set, can you say run, run away.  It kicked ass, and so did the res
t of the set, Chalkdust to Bittersweet really made it great.  My sister
already knew most of the songs and since she was groovin so hard, I wasn't
gonna interrupt.
    The only downside was in the lot afterwards.  We were sitting next to
someone else's car, and when he cam up I asked him if he enjoyed the show.
The shrug of shoulders, accompanied by the sigh and pissed look on his face
said enough.  It got me really mad, almost to the point of saying something
to him...but I refrained.  I was there for the good time, and that's what I
had.  I'm really sorry everyone else can't enjoy it to the utmost and total
extent that I do, and I hope my sister.  From what I hear...Mission
Accomplished.

Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2000 18:54:54 -0400 From: Doug Rice [email protected] To: [email protected] Blockbuster Pavilion 7/3, Camden, NJ Ahhh, the highlights of this show are easy. There is a set II opener that will take you to places you won't believe and is a musical funhouse, plus that bustout that followed it - you know what I'm talking about! SET I - The theme that gets going 20 minutes into this set is best understood knowing that during the 2 year-hiatused Foam, the weather blew some fog into the amphitheater and started sprinkling the folks on the lawn. By the time the band dropped Bathtub Gin on us, it was full on pouring torrential rain providing off beat crowd bursts of "woooo's!!" with each lightning strike. This Gin was nothing like the exceptional and funky Gin from PNC, but instead, perhaps inspired by the weather, was thick and milky. Different, but delicious. All great performances of My Soul/HThings,Fluff, Circus, and Antelope broke out of the murkiness of Foam/Gin as the rain stopped. Non-musical highlight moment: During the opening DWD, Trey's two little adorable toddler daughters wandered out on stage, prompting daddy Trey to halt his playing and take them by the hand to lead them off. Awww, just too cute. SET II/Encore - Almost every single note of this whole set is grade A. Like the set II opener the following night in Camden, here is the musical highlight, folks. Right here. This was no ordinary Jim. Not one second of this 25 minute version was wasted or indulgent. This Jim actually has some of the most old-school psychedelic rock sections I've heard them attempt in years. It was a blatant GIFT - a purely breathtaking experience in musical improvisation steeped in Phish roots. The must-hear from this show. And then, BAM! There's the treat I was referring to - Gliiiiide. Some of you have gotten this giddy closet classic within the last few years, but it has avoided a lot of us since 1994. Not the cleanest delivery as expected, but damn it's got that Christmas morning joy to it. Honorable mentions go to the Theme->Sand. This set is perfect because it gives the old school doses of Phish in Jim and Glide, then a heavy dose of the new Phish in this stellar Sand performance that made it seem Theme was BORN to be placed in front of it. Again, just near perfect music within Jim, Theme, and Sand. I defy you to attempt to grasp any concept of time while listening to Jim/Glide/Theme/Sand! Bittersweet Motel and the Waste encore were beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Peace, G.Rice
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 23:02:50 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 7-3-00 Hey, I would just like to say that this was my first Phish concert I had ever been to, and to me it kicked ass. I had a lot of people there that I knew that have been to other Phish shows and that this one wasn't so great. But I just didn't give a crap. That was the first time I had ever seen DWD performed live, hell I didn't know that they played it more than twice as fast. Now when I listen to the version on "Hoist" I get pissed off because it seems so slow. And also another plus to being at my first show is that I got second row. I was really exited, but it was almost blown to pieces because of a guy who borrowed my ticket right before intermission, and then sitting alone without my ticket, one of the ticket checker dudes was coming around, thank god he just skipped right by me. But still I was really pissed off at that guy, and he wasn't the only guy who asked, there were tons of people that did. If you wanna see phish, than just buy your own ticket, your just cheating the system and phish. But other than that the show was awesome, bathtub gin was once again amazing, and I finally found out that the song meat, was called meat. Yeah and that's basically all I really have to say. Oh, and I know of another band (that I play the bass in) called "Urban Funk Monkeys." We are a jam band and working our way up to the top so please help support our band and visit http://www.urbanfunkmonkeys.com thanks. Later dudes Jared M.
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 09:46:43 -0400 From: "Peeler, Jon" [email protected] To: "'[email protected]'" [email protected] Subject: 7-3 review Hello once agian! Words for Today: Well I think Trey actually said it best: "We're all in this together. And we love to take a bath!" 7/3/00 Back on tour after kicking myself in the ass for missing the northeast portion (I knew it. I knew it. I knew it!) I find myself in the arsehole of Philly, Camden (and hey...I do like Philly). Nice town if you like burned out boarded up houses and urban blight. Anyway, after a freaking monster traffic jam on the way in we roll into the parking garage about a mile from the venue about 7:00 PM. We had managed to start chugging at about exit 4 on 676 so at least I had some kind of working buzz on as we hustled down to the E Center. Now last years show at this place was probably one of the worst I have ever seen, but this is Y2PH on the 3RD of July, and dammit not Camden or Mother Nature is gonna screw this up! We wandered up the lawn and amazingly find the rest of our tour buddies immediately on Page side (thats the nice thing about sitting in the same general area for about six years) with a calvalcade of lovely nice people from Vermont who became awesome companions for these shows. Finally I get to relax for about ten minutes and the boyz wander onstage right on time (8:10) and crank into DwD not my fave song ever, but I enjoyed it, and it got the crowd up and moving nicely. Not as long as other DwDs from the past year, but in the opening slot, it rarely is. After a short rest they deliver Guelah which made me happy and My Minds which made me even happier (BTW this is a Jimmy Dale Gilmour sing, not Mike) one of my fave Bg tunes and the only one I did not hear in the BG fest that was the SE portion of the tour. Then things get really interesting, they played a really really good Foam that signaled the start of the oft threatened rain. I was extremely happy to hear Foam, used to kinda bore me, but that was in like 93-94 when they played it a lot more often then they do now. Now its a treat and I love it when they take it all the way down. Now it isn't REALLY raining that hard at this point, but as Foam winds down, it starts to pick up a little and as they break into Bathtub Gin, well it was time to take a bath as the clouds open up. It started raining pretty damn hard at this point, and our friend lightning showed up as well, Im starting to have flashbacks of Walnut 97 here, but in my mind i knew it wasn't gonna last all night so i just stuck through it. Man we got soaked though but it was just so much fun dancing in the pouring rain and Phish responds with a nice nice Gin. Ive never enjoyed being rained on so much in my life I think (well maybe once or twice, but that is for another website) When you hear the show you'll hear the yells from the lawn as lightning strikes around the amphitheater but not much thunder. Hell it was as much firworks as we got on the 4th so... finally BTG winds down (big explosion from the crowd when they wind back into the main riff) and drops into My Soul. Now I hate this song but nothing was gonna bring me down tonight so I found some dry doob and made the best of it, nuff said. Same for Heavy Things, fuggit I expected to hear it so I cant really get pissed. Figure we were in for a closer, but the band decides to play...Fluffhead!!!!!!!! Oh Yeah! Everybody eats another pill in clebration hee hee. After the sloppy disjointed version that closed the show last year (yes it was!) this was a definate improvement and the whole crowd was going apeshit including me. I know this isn't going to close the set and I was right as the band finished up with ample screaming assistance from the lucky but wet 25,000 in attendance and played Circus which definately indicated one more. I thought a quickie was in order, but they started...Antelope! WOW! Once again, the place goes nuts as they played a really intense jammed out Antelope that climaxed orgasmicly and Trey pulls out an extremely tall guy and Jersey native named Tom who wrote the thing and finally dropped my "Bring you to have any SPLIFF mon" on me and the set comes careening to a close and we all dropped in a rainy sweaty puddle. Damn over 1:30 from what I hear what a freaking set. Hugs and rubs all around after that one what incredible energy. Setbreak one hour as normal and a companion got his piece snaked by security (note: E Center security are some mean bastards, watch your ass in that place esp. the lawn) Well, as it always does the lights go down and its time to dance. Phish seems to agree as they whip into the best Jim since Worcester 97 and the best Ive seen since 12/31/95 it got spacy for about five minutes, but the rest was flat out ass kicking jamming. I was so into the groove that I had no idea that it timed out at about 1/2 hour until the next day. I just got completely lost in the jam (a j-hole?) and when they finally finished up everybody looked at one another and said "Holy Shit" (seriously). After a short conference, of all things they start up...Glide?!?!?! YES!!!!!! Oh my am I Glad Glad Glad!!! I think my face broke open from my smile and completely fell apart when during the long pause Trey does some sadly neglected secret language action and I get to fall down as all the drunk newbies look at me as if Im the one whos nuts. I love it, I love it, I love it! Followed by a nice Theme that fit my mood nicely and led to several hugs "Keep whats important and know who's your friend" indeed! I love that song and that sentiment. A superfunkalicious Sand got everybody grooving again and unlike several Sands Ive seen lose focus and wander off incoherantly, this one gelled and ossified until it was a huge towering funk monster awesome! Meat kept the funk going hard. I think they took an extra one or two at the end before slamming into a upbeat intense CDT to close. I love hearing 25,000 people screaming "Can't I live while Im young" as the band plays the song like they mean it. There was sooooo much energy floating around the place, it was absolutely amazing. I couldn't even complain about the Waste encore whatever! We gathered together in a big group and hugged each other, it was quite emotional and I frankly dont care if Trey flubbed the words. An awesome energetic night that defied scenery and circumstance to bring it all back home. And we still had one more night to go! Greg Peeler
Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2000 00:02:13 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Camden Review (7-3-00) Greetings and Wow!!! That's about the only way I can start this review... From a guy who missed the New Year's extravaganza and will forever regret it, all I can say is it seemed to do wonderful things for the band. It appears as if their concept of what is a long show has been perpetually changed. Have you noticed how much longer the sets have been on average this tour? It appears as if they are totally stretching out and just letting go. Last night at Camden that was certainly the case. For various reasons, mostly because we added a third child in Feb., I have not seen a show since the two at Holmdel last summer. I have kept up with the band's progress via tapes, of course, but as you may have guessed, I was pretty much ready for anything at Camden. Still, while I expected to have a great time, as always, I did not expect to get knocked for a loop like I did last night. Unbelievable... Mind blowing... Pick your own adjective... This show for me ranked right up there with any "regular" show I have seen (I've seen around 20 in seven years). If you were into "rockers," then this one was probably not for you. If, however, you were into climbing aboard the spaceship, taking off without knowing where, when, or even if you would land... well, then, this was paradise. :) Just look at the first set. I'm sure you saw the list... but you're going to have to get the tapes if you weren't there to appreciate it. Ten songs in all. Trey's kids on stage... Tom Marshall making an appearance... Plus, they could have easily ended the set after Fluffhead, but it was clear early on that the boys were in the exploration frame of mind. Here's a quick rundown from one fans viewpoint... Down with Disease was, obviously, a fun start. The jam was long and intense and at times it appeared as if they were going to take it somewhere else, but eventually it came back to the glorious refrain. Guelah Papyrus was a cool second song, rare and done well. It started a trend that would continue throughout the show - the band starting, stopping and teasing the audience... My Mind's Got a Mind was a nice treat for me. The only Mike bluegrass tune I had never heard. It was short and sweet. I couldn't believe when I heard the opening riff to Foam... I didn't know how long it had been, but I knew it hadn't been played in a long time. (87 shows, I saw later!) It was really cool... Chris K. was right on with the lights as the dark, ominous clouds gathered over the lawn. It made an early light show possible and he was up to the task. The jam fit the mood perfectly, taking us all up and down for a ride... when it ends... we roll right into the opening chords of... Bathtub Gin!!!! Page goes crazy on the keys, as usual... You gotta love that! It almost seemed as if the band planned it... within a minute or two after the "we're all in this together and we'd ove to take a bath!" line.. of course, it started to pour. And I mean a torrential downpour. I was under the pavilion, row N, so I was what, 12 rows from the lawn... and it just came whipping in... It felt damn good!!! As noted on the main review, every time lightning flashed, the crowd would erupt again and Kuroda would answer with some strobes... As for the boys, for about five minutes, it seemed like they were just playing background music to the show that Mother Nature was putting on. Maybe they were just enjoying the spectacle. Who knows.. :) Anyway, soon they grabbed our attention again and just soared. Some awesome Gin jams here, with everyone getting in on the action. When they finally ended Gin, Trey broke into the opening riff of My Soul. It was fun. Always nice to hear him shred some blues. :) Page also had a long solo in this one. Very nice... The catchy Heavy Things followed. I'm sure not everyone there wanted to hear it, but personally it was my first (see what happens when you take off a year!) So, I enjoyed it immensely. After the lightness of Heavy Things... Came the opening notes of Fluffhead!!!! Oh yes!!! This was a real treat. I know they played it at Camden last year too, but I don't think anyone cared. The jam was right on all the way throughout... Just kept building and building... Damn! When they came back to the ending FLUFFHEAD refrain, I thought the roof was coming down. As fans were roaring at the end, I knew that the first set was going to be over, so I started heading for the aisle to beat the traffic. Well, what do you know. I was wrong. Completely and totally wrong. As I reached the outer concourse, Trey begin strumming the chords for... Circus... I ran up to the lawn to join the wet and wild ones... This meant two things to me: No. 1, it was doubtful they were going to end the set with the mellow Circus, and No. 2, I have read how much Trey loves this song, so it was clear that he was just in "the mood"... you know, the mood to stretch it out... :) So, this song was sweet. Very well done and then... I'm still shaking my head over this... ANTELOPE!!! That's right.. a Down w/Disease, Gin, Fluffhead and Antelope all in the first F&*%$#ng set!!!! What more can I say? It just went on and on... Page was all over it, Mike was all over it, Fish was right there and Trey just whaled. It was awesome and to top it all off... as I mentioned... when it comes time for the "lyrics", out walks Tom Marshall... In a way, it was cool to be on the lawn for this, because I could see his face on the video monitor. He looked at us all slyly, did the ole "Rye, rye, rocco... Marcos Escaundoles..." then grinned and said.. "have you got any spliff, man..." The crowd went nuts!!!! What a first set! It was long, wild and crazy, and I was wondering how the hell they were going to match it in set 2. Sometimes lately it seemed when we got a really good first set, the second set was anticlimactic. Take last year, for example. The first set on the first night at Holmdel was awesome, but the second set could not keep up the same level. On this night however, it was a different story... SET II We begin the journey with Runaway Jim. After a nice jam in the middle, the band really kicked it into high gear. I can't even tell you how many times they switched gears in the middle of this song. It would soar up, giving the eppearance of heading somewhere else, then taper off... several times it sounded like they would just end it, but they persevered... The glow rings were flying, the lights were intense... Around 15-20 minutes, I turned to my buddy Tom and said, "maybe we're getting a Worcester Jim"... (obviously referring to the 65-minute Jim of 11-29-97). At one point I thought they were going to break into Timber Ho!, but they were just teasing... Ten minutes later, just when I was really starting to believe we might be getting a Worcester Jim, the song basically came to an ominous, dark end... but no! Mike and Fish kept it alive... until Trey and Page came back in and took it to a soaring conclusion. 33 minutes!!!! It was phenomenal fun!!! I was amazed how many people in the crowd stayed with it, dancing the whole time through all the peaks and valleys. I love doing that. Again, if this is what you go see Phish for, it was awesome!!! I could not believe what came next... A song I have always wanted to hear live and had pretty much given up on... The boys took a long time deciding what to play and in a minute we all knew why... GLIDE!!!! Just perfect... everybody went crazy.... they were right on and to top it off... the ending. They held the last... "and we're glad, glad glad that you're a....." FOREVER!!! The waves of applause came and went five times, I swear, louder and louder each time... and Trey and Mike just stood there motionless. Soaking it all in. It was great. Then, faintly, I heard Trey do the "All Fall Down" Phish language signal... I collapsed into my seat, and Trey and Mike fell to the ground. Not many people picked up the signal in my section, so they probably thought I was bizarre! LOL!!! Finally, they dragged themselves up and finished the song... perfect!!! This is getting long, so I will try to wrap it up... Theme was very nice and I was thinking they would probably be ending the set soon.. Instead, they broke into Sand!!! Another 15-20 min. jam.. Totally funky. The end was really cool... They found such a nice groove. Then they "ended" it... the lights went dark... and they came back right at the same point. It was funny... Meat followed, where they teased us again and again as usual at the end. It was weird placement, but it worked... and that was followed by a rockin' Chalkdust Torture!! Always fun... I was exhausted and said, this has got to be it.. but no... Trey broke into the sweet sounds of Bittersweet Motel. It was a beautiful way to cap the set... It worked. Some may not have liked the Waste encore, but personally, I think it is a very pretty song. The lyrics are really cool and it was a fine choice for an encore on this night. After all, it was after midnight (doesn't Camden have a curfew!? LOL!!) I don't think many of us had much energy left for another fast song anyway! :) So, there you have it. I didn't get back to my car until 12:10 a.m. Despite the traffic hassles getting in, and the impersonable E Center venue... this was one of my favorite shows since the Clifford Ball. It was a blast!!! For those of you going tonight, I am jealous... It's back to work for me. As for those on tour, damn... should be a great ride! Hope you all have a great time!! Be safe and I'll see you at Hershey this fall. Peace and love, Mike
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2000 23:39:04 -0400 From: "Gawronski, Ryan (CORP, Counsultant)" [email protected] To: "'[email protected]'" [email protected] Subject: Review for July 3rd, 2000 This was my first show since the radio city opener and I was some what dissapointed but hey I can't complain. Whenever I get to see the boys, I am in my glory. Getting into the lot was a mad house and I am a local and took all the back roads, but no luck knowing the back roads. Got a parking spot about 2 miles away ffrom the venue or at least it felt like it. Did purchase a new Phatty piece in the lot on my trek into the venue. Was hoping for alot of songs that I did not get to hear but oh well there will be other shows. Well enough of the jibber jabber I guess I'll get to the songs and break'em down as I go. DWD> Ahh the pleasent sound of Cactus slapping away on that bass. Great opener and what a way to get me to start kicking up some dust in the lawn. I felt the rain starting to drizzle on my head just a bit, but nothing major. The boys sounded tight and I knew there were good things to come. By the way I was not aware of the golf cart or Treys children on stage. Guelah Papyrus> Good old classic. Trey and Mike doing a little jig and just over all funking it up. The rain kinda stopped, but I could smell a storm a coming. My Mind> Cactus giving us some good old bluegrass. The rain started to come down a bit harder now and we all had no idea what the boys would come up with next. Foam> This song must love me because I happen to be a part of the one in Hampton and the one in Woooooster. Mike and Trey were having a good old time doing their little jigs. Page sounded great as usual. HERE CAME THE RAIN AND BOY IT CAME DOWN WITH A VENGANCE! Bathtub Gin> We were all in this together and we loved taking a bath in the rain, so to speak. The lightning was striking every once in a while with the ohhs and ahhs of the crowd with each strike. I was very soaked at this time and just ready for whatever the boys had in store for me and the rest of the Phans. My Soul> What a great song especially to hear in the pouring rain. They rocked the house with this and I know my soul was feeling great. After what the boys had unleashed on us I was hoping for a Reba or a 2001, but I was let down for what they played for us next. Heavy Things> Great song, but it seems like every show I attend now a days I hear this damn song. I like it don't get me wrong but I would much rather have heard a Reba which I have yet to hear at any show I've been to in my 22 show carrer. So far, so good. Fluffhead> I heard this last year when the boys were here, don't think it was as good but hey I am not a complainer and will take it as they come. Fluff always gets the crowd rockin and some reviews I have read so far are saying that Trey was missing on some parts of this song, but I found nothing wrong. Great Tune!!!! When the Circus Comes> Finally a song I could chill, sit on the lawn, puff a nugg and just sit back and listen to Trey pour out his heart to the crowd. One of my favorites, No Doubt and was definetley thinking this was going to be it for the first set, but wait I heard Trey doing some riffs that were starting to sound like Yup you guessed it ANTELOPE!!!!!! Antelope> I knew this was it for the first set and what a way to go out. I have not heard this since October 8th in Nassau and was over joyous when they busted this out. This song is always filled with some extra additives and always brings out the scoopin and diggin in all of us. I looked to the corner of the stage and who do I see but none other than Tommy Marshall to add in some extra lyrics. "BEEN YOU TO HAVE ANY SPLIFF.....MON!!!!" The crowd was going nuts at this point and CK5 was also going nuts during the whole first set with his lighting theatrics. The boys definetley had everyones gear set to high as they ended the first set with this rager. Well that was it for the first set and I was very happy and was still awaitng a Reba or a Caspian for the second. My girlfriend and I had met up with some friends during the long intermission and were lucky enough to score some seats in the pavillion for the second set which started off around 10:30. Runaway Jim> This version just blew me right out of the water and everyone else who was in attendance as well. They killed this song and were teasing songs out the ass. Looked back out at the lawn and saw the glowsticks a flyin during this jam. The way the boys were jamming then just came right back to the Jim that they started with was phenominal. What could they come up with next after this rager but none other than: Glide> Great classic Phish at their best. All fall down secret language during this was leaning me towards a Possum, but nope they suprised me with Theme. Theme> The boys sounded great and you could tell were havin a grand old time. I happen to love this song and it was another good opprotunity to sit back in my newly aquired seat and puff another nugg with my boys. Sand> Nice jam and some funking going on by Trey and Page and then Jon and Mike doing their thing. Meat> Loving it!! This song should be re-named Funk because thats what is all about. Chalkdust> Can't we live why we are young. This is another one of those songs that whenever I go see the boys, they always seem to pull this out of thier hat, so for me it is relly nothing special, but as always it rocks. Bittersweet Motel> First time heard for me. Great tune and nothing like slowing it down for the last song of the set. Slowing it down before the encore I thought was going to be a good thing. ALRIGHT HERE COMES MY NEVER HEARD BEFORE REBA. WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Waste> Great song, but a little dissapointing for an encore on the 4th of july holiday shows. Trey just singing to us letting us know that we were all wasting our time waitng for an encore that we were not going to get. Leaving the venue was as easy as hell, thought it was going to be a disaster. Ate some really good goo balls in the lot and can I just throw in that I think nitrous oxide is the fucking worst thing in the world. I wish someone would just get rid of it somehow, how I don't know but if there was a way I would be the one to get it off the face of the earth. Great show all together and the highlight of the night was by far the RUNAWAY JIM. The boys sounded tight, CK5 was as always on top of his game with the lights, and last but not least of all the phans as always were as phriendly as could be. See ya next time. ROD G.
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2000 18:26:37 -0400 From: "St.Pierre, Timothy" [email protected] To: "'[email protected]'" [email protected] Subject: 7/3/00 Review I like to keep my reviews to the point, since no one could possibly care what I did for the 6 hours previous to the show, or how bad traffic sucked, or what some dude I know said to a phatty veggie burrito vendor on the way in, or who had my farmies. So here goes... Set I Down With Disease - This is a common opener. However, I make the contention here that there is no better opener than Diseaser. No matter what, it does not disappoint. It puts you right in the mood... grooving hard. This was even a fairly common Disease, nothing extraordinary, but just felt awesome. Guelah Papyrus - After Trey's lil girls came out after Disease (which was really cute, I have to admit), they busted my only pick of the night. "Whats your dark horse pick tonight, Tim?" "Ummmm... Guelah Papyrus". Sounded good to me. My Minds Got A Mind - Always a fun one. Foam - At this point, it was clear to me that Phish was making a point to enforce an old school mentality. They do that sometimes. Bringing back Foam has not always worked in the past. When I saw it again at Hampton 98, it was nice to hear but not super great. However, this time through it was absolutely incredible. I just kept thinking, "Hahaha, they GOT us. We FORGOT about Foam." The jam was vintage underwater Phish sound, bubbling. It rose and expanded and got more intense, the most intense part being the tag at the end. Although it will probably not be the case, I truly believed that they could finally put Foam back in the rotation. Gin - While the jam didn't quite reach that ultimate nirvana, I sort of feel like we're all already there to begin with, because of where Gin has gone in the past. Everyone in my section, and it seemed like everyone in general, yelled/sang the lyrics, "We're all in this together, and we love to take a bath." Yup. My Soul - I don't have much to say about this at all, except that I did enjoy hearing it. Heavy Things - Pretty standard, I feel like we all love this song. What made me enjoy it so much more was when my best friend (Brendan aka 2001 Man) turned to me during the end section and we both sang "Things Are Falling Down On Meeeeeeeeeeee" like Trey does in the outro on "Farmhouse". It would be cool if we as an audience got into the habit of singing that part at shows because Trey's all busy there, and it would be more fun than the "HOOD" and the Stash claps. Fluffhead - Not the best version ever, but who really cares? It was freakin' Fluffhead. Hell, I sure had some powerful pills that night. Circus - I didn't really need "the big Circus breather", but I do like the Fluffhead->Circus->Antelope combo we've seen before. Antelope - The jam didn't really rip my face off or anything, but, like the Fluffhead, who really cares? It was freakin' Antelope. The Tom Marshall bit was a nice touch. Set II Runaway Jim - About 2 minutes into the jam, I thought, "Wow, this could be one of THOSE Jims." I was right, because it turned into a pretty huge one. 33 minutes was the count that I heard, but it kept moving the whole time. During the big Jim jams of the past, I have always credited Fishman with the most compelling direction in the jam. This Jim was no exception. Fishman was like a greased Scotsman in this song. Slick. Fine musicianship. Glide - Did I say "old school" before? My favorite part about this song is the evil stomping part before the end. Chris had red lights on for that. During the pause, they did the "all fall down" voice language. I guess people don't realize that EVERYONE is supposed to fall down, not just the band. I felt like an idiot falling down when the band did, but whatever....... Theme - Fat. I love going through the "Bowie? Maze? Theemme" thought progression. They really treated us to some rare stuff tonight. And they did on the fourth too. Sand-->Meat-->Chalk Dust I thought of these together during the show (I wonder why), and wanted to address them together here. Sand was not hectic and crazy, but slow and funky. I liked that. They did that "stop the jam, then start it up a minute later" thing again, which was awesome. Meat is slower than Sand, but it was still super funky. The stops in Meat paralleled the stop in the Sand jam. When Dust ripped in, I freaked out. I was waiting for something like this all show, and so was Trey, judging by the way he leapt forward when he started the opening riff. He ripped all the way through. My friend Brendan commented on how he looked at us from a few rows back and we were just getting down so hard. Bittersweet was nice, and so was Waste, and that was the night. Very good show, it gets 112 of a possible 137 points (just kidding). Tim St. Pierre
Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2000 12:14:01 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: review 7-3-00 E Center- Camden, NJ Wow.....camden was crazy, after a long drive from chicago we pulled up to the e center in a violent storm. After finally getting in, we made our way to the lawn, and we had already missed the first few songs...oh well.....got there right as Foam ended. Thats when it happend. This rain, and im talking VIOLENT rain, started coming down (and i had lawn....ug). Anyway, the opening notes of Bathtub Gin started. Bathtub Gin: Everyone was going nuts, we were all soaked from head to toe, and with each lightning blast everyone would cheer (have to get the tape). My Soul: played nicely, never heard it live before but done well. Heavy Things: I know alot of people put this down, but it was played nicely, stretched out a bit more, and everyone seemed to be into it. Fluffhead: Great, truely great, always great to hear everyone join in on the "powerful pills" line. Circus: not bad.....i thought that was gonna be it for set 1, so i was getting ready to head for the bathroom when i heard... Antelope: wow! They played this about a week ago, and i thought it would be forever before they did it again, but it was the highlight of the show...Tom Marshall came out at the end. Setbreak: lets just say, security were complete jerks. Both days, i mean i saw 5 guys in yellow shirts (big guys too), almost tackle 4 or 5 girls with sparklers. Horrible...just horrible. Set 2: Runaway Jim: this seemed to jam out forever, it was great, i thought we might get a worcester jam, but 30 mins was great too. Glide: wow! My 2nd Glide, with secret lang and all (i felt like a fool, no one else went to the ground). Theme: was decent Sand: always loved this bass line, great song. Meat: was ok, never really a big fan of this song. Chalkdust: Yeah....now we were going, totally rocked out. Bittersweet Motel: This gave me a new appreciation for this song, everyone around me was totally into it. Encore: Waste: alright, but i was hoping for something faster, like maybe a Frankenstein or something...............
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2000 18:08:43 EDT From: Evan St. John [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Camden 7/03/00 Getting through Camden was a little frustrating with the nasty traffic jam, but we managed to get there in plenty of time. We were at the very front of the lawn, sort of on the left facing the stage^� just sat there chillin while the place gradually filled up. The show started around 8:10 with: DWD: Great way to open up the set, it really started the place off with a bang. Some very nice licks and noodles from trey throughout the whole thing, overall pretty standard but also very ripping as disease usually is. Guelah Papyrus: Very slow and groovy, had the whole place dancing to the funk. Trey and Mike did the little kick and twist dance which was cool. Nice way to chill the place out after the crazy disease. My Mind: Hadn^�t heard it live yet, picked the place right back up, very bluegrassy and very jumpy. By now the rain had started to drizzle quite a bit^� seemed like it would keep up. Foam: Holy crap! I was just pleased I could get such a rare one. Page and Trey had some very nice solos. The rain really started kicking up now and everyone had fun just singing along to the lyrics. I just sat back and enjoyed it while I could. Bathtub: Yes! Perfect timing because by now it was pouring. The jam started off a little slow, but as the rain picked up into a heavy pour the jam got faster and faster. By the middle lighting would strike every now and then which was followed by a huge ^�WOO!^� from the crowd. The guys really fed off of the crowd^�s energy from dancing in the mud and just kept the jam going better and better. Great song, great fun in the rain. My Soul: This was a great version, and a first for me. Very bluesy and very rocking, had the whole place up in smoke singing to it. It was still pouring pretty hard. I remember looking down at my sandals and seeing them absolutely drenched^� puddles inside and everything. Heavy Things: Overall, I think this is just a decent song, nothing special, but great to hear between jams. This version was pretty standard, trey got in a short but sweet solo before the vocal part at the end. Fluffhead->Fluff^�s Travels: Holy shit!!!! I was absolutely amazed I got another rare one. The jam section was very tight, very groovy. The place went off the wall when it started. They had played it here last year (7/10/99), as well as the bathtub, so I guess they were just following up. Amazing version with a lot of energy which would be revived with^� Circus: I^�m not too crazy about this song, but it gave everyone a nice breather. Great solo from trey as usual. Plus I realized that there^�s no way they could end the set with it (it had already been about 70 minutes when it started), so we were guaranteed with another song^� I was thinking cavern or character zero.. but was amazed to see: Antelope!!: WOW! This was a huge surprise for everyone! The jam was so freaking amazing. CK5^�s lighting was just incredible.. it fit the high speed velocity of the jam so well^� the whole place was just going nuts. I was so glad at this point I wasn^�t even thinking about set 2. Then, just when things are high enough, Tom Marshall comes out to sing his lyrics. The crowd again goes NUTS^� cheering again when he says ^�got any spliff mon^�.. trey was cracking up as tom left the stage. Wow.. the whole jam was just so full of energy and the crowd loved every second of it. I was just amazed that the first set had been so long. It ended at around 9:50, making it and hour and half long. By now the whole lawn was nothing but a flat mud pile. Set II: started around 10:30 Runaway Jim: Traditional set opener, had everyone dancing from the start^�. No one expected what they would get from it though. Trey started it all off with some really funky ^�wah wah^� licks that sounded sort of like the guitar in the shaft theme song^� except these were slower and funkier^� from there they just continued to experiment and jam on. At about the middle the glow rings started flying.. at this point the jam had a really crosseyed-like feel to it^� at every minute I thought they were about to segue into a different song but they just kept going in different places. This was the highlight for me and a definite for you to have. I checked my watch when it ended^� at 11:05. It had been 35 minutes. This whole jam was just freaking amazing and got the place going when they ended it coming back to the runaway jim part. Glide: Cool! Another rare one^� had everyone cheering and singing along. At the end they paused and stood still for a couple of minutes before singing the last line^�. And I just stood and watched for movement^� which was trey^� started off the ^�all fall down^� language!!! Perfect night to put it.. I fell down in the mud, but no one else around me did so I just got up and watched ... hehehe. Theme From the Bottom: Very nice.. it was really slow and mellow and just had the whole place chillin out. Everything was perfectly tranquil by the end^� Sand: WOW! funkadelic! It started off pretty standard, with trey and page soloing on top of the EXTREMELY thick groove laid down by mike and fish^� later however mike started to experiment a bit and then fish took off along with him^� at this point the funk level was at the night^�s high.. and I enjoyed every second of it. Overall.. I think this was Page^�s song of the night^� he had some really groovy stuff that you might hear in a 2001 throughout the whole thing. They ended the jam and started it up again after a minute or two for some reason. That was possibly a tease for the next song: Meat: Nice song to follow up the funk. Very decent version with the usual teases as it ends. On the last tease trey went immediately into: Chalkdust: They had played this last year too^� the whole place went nuts. It was a great, high energy ripping song as usual. I couldn^�t hear the music as the whole crowd screamed ^�Can I live while I^�m young!?!?!^� I thought this would be the set closer but it lead nicely into: Bittersweet Motel: Stepped the place down a level and had everyone very calm and relaxed by the end. As it ended I realized they would keep the place mellow to end the show, which was fine by me. Encore: not a long wait for: Waste: Very cool version, with an amazing solo from trey. The whole place was just really quiet and peaceful and enjoyed the whole thing^� I don^�t think the crowd minded that it was a slow way to end the night. It really did fit with the rest of the show, great way to close it up. Overall this was a fun night filled with a lot of surprises. Highlights for me were either cheering for the lightning during Bathtub, dancing my ass off for the antelope, or just witnessing the amazing Runaway Jim. Thanks for the great show guys.
Date: Tue, 4 Jul 2000 19:21:22 -0400 From: pat donnelly [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 7.03.00. E-Center. Camden, NJ. How does one begin about a show this incredible? It's difficult to comprehend how good of a show this was, and the setlist does not belie the quality. But first things first... Heh... anyone catch that hour-long traffic jam?? Blah... Actually it was a fun traffic jam... in a way... Anyway... Parking was weird, we were parked in a NJ Transit Training Center garage a few blocks away [ok...]. The lots were pretty cool, and we scored tickets for both Camden shows. w00h00! Security seemed lax and while there was no real central Shakedown St. there was still all sorts of vending and such... Got to our seats literally one minute before the boys took the stage. We ended up sitting towards the far wall, and let me tell you how fucking soft it was there... I could whisper to my friend and we could hear each other loud and clear. That really detracted from things, but still... What a show!!! Well here goes... DWD-- Wasn't expecting it for an opener only because I missed both Hartford and second night PNC so DWD was fresh in my mind. But still... I was pretty psyched! Pretty standard, pretty ripping as well... They did that noodling they seem to favor in DWD lately which was pretty cool. A little note-- i never saw the golf cart on stage, I did however see Trey's kids on stage. Anyone else catch that? It was so cute! Guelah Papyrus-- OH YEAH! This was totally unexpected and totally awesome. Very chill version which was nice because DWD really ripped shit up. It was just a very grooving, very mellow Guelah; a really really nice version. It sounds stupid, but I can't think of what to say about it... funked out a bit too. Oh and the dancing!! Mike and Trey were dancing on stage, rotating their bodies and legs with the chords... really cool. My Mind-- Had never heard it before, or even heard *of* it, but it was cool-- good bluegrass feel, and seemed to be really well received, especially by a crowd who, largely, didn't know what it was [i was asking around...]. Foam-- w00h00!!! WOW!! All I kept saying was "whoa..." Foam was incredible!! EVERYONE was singing along to this man, and the craziest was at the end when Trey and Mike just kept "faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalling" into the deep well. Oh man what a song. Had a cool jam which is a side of Foam i'd never really considered that great as well. What a song. Bathtub Gin-- Was cool. Again wasn't expecting it because it was fresh in my mind from 6/28, and honestly, the 6/28 version was exceptionally good; so this didn't compare. But it was pretty cool, and the lightning outside the pavilion [the lawn got soaked!] was a cool crowd thing. There were times when lightning struck on one of those heavy bass notes, and it was a really incredible experience. My Soul-- VERY phatty song. The crowd was ROCKING for this one, and the band was totally ON. I'd heard a tape of this once, but never seen it, and it was a really great experience. I was kinda peaking right then [also kinda almost puking from the shrooms] so i don't really remember it, but from what I do remember: excellent. Heavy Things-- I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU PEOPLE SAY: IT'S A GOOD SONG! I'm not crazy about it, but I certainly don't just like sit down when it comes on as a gut reaction. It's a cool song, and it definitley had a very bouncy little vibe to it. Short ass jam tonite [before the closing vocal segment], but still very cool. Fluffhead/Fluff's Travels-- WHAT?? Hehehehe!! This was just so crazy and off-the-wall, and it was a really great jam. The crowd pumping their fists, the band just going off-- oh man. This is one of those situations [actually much of the first set] where it's really difficult to describe how much fucking energy was flowing through the place. It was like we were all lifted up into this different world. It was extremely surreal-- unlike anything I've experienced at any show [phish or other]. When the Circus Comes-- YEAH BABY YEAH!!!! I absolutely LOVE this song. One of my favorite songs Phish plays, originals OR covers. Trey pours his entire heart and soul into this song, and I was standing there grooving my head off to this song. I love it- it almost brings me to tears just thinking about this song. It's passionate, it's emotional, and it's delivery is just amazing. I consider it a highlight of the show for me, not a chill-out song. =c) Run Like An Antelope-- ............ what can be said......... this was incredible. Certainly a highlight of the show. Fucking great great great jam going into it, and CK5 was absolutely INSANE, i mean INSANE during this jam [before Marco]. And then, who should appear on stage, but TOM MARSHALL?? Wow... so he comes out and does his lyrics [and of course we all go nuts when he says "have any spliff"], and the crowd is just wired. When Trey shouted "Set the gear shift..." the energy was absolutely through the roof. Not a single person around me didn't have a smile plastered across their face. This was amazing. I'd been wanting to actually experience this song live, and I got it...... wow...... I was speechless. Wow, so an hour and a half first set. Nice change from two 55 minute PNC first sets, eh? Anyway we were really shocked by the quality of the first set, and I feel bad because nothing I say can do it any kind of justice. Ah well. Setbreak was *long* [over 50 mins.], and we found better seats closer to the center so we could actually hear.... But nothing could prepare us for this second set... Runaway Jim-- One for the record books. If you need something to knock you on your ass, this will do it. This was 30 minutes long, and it went EVERYWHERE. There was one moment when it got so quiet it was almost a silent jam, and then they blasted back into the original jam [or some tangent of it]. They had everyone guessing the whole song. This jam was just amazing, and you could tell we were witnessing something REALLY special. I mean something REALLY special. And when they went back into "OOOOhhhh... Runaway Jim..." ... it was just the greatest capper to the greatest jam I've heard live, ever. Glide-- Hell yeah! I've never been a big fan of Glide, but this changed all that. It was funkin', it was groovin', and the stops!!! Holy shit. They paused several times, and at the end, before the last, very harmonic "gliiiiide", they paused for a good 3 minutes. The energy level at that point was through the roof. They've been doing extended pauses recently [Mike's 6/28, [something else] 6/29], but this was nuts, and everyone was shouting at the top of their lungs through the whole pause. It was a cool song, and one that I hadn't necessarily appreciated before tonite. Theme From the Bottom-- Oh yeah! My friend Bridget was pushing for Billy Breathes material [no Caspian tho!], and she got it. This was cool, and emotional. I hit a real moment of clarity during this song. The groove was flowing, CK5 had these watery blue lights going across the top of the roof, and I just hit this moment where everything seemed calm and perfect. This was the definition of happiness. The whole crowd going along with the "From the bottom" vocal jam was also very cool. Sand-- Funk-0-rama!! The other night's Sand was spooky, tonight's was funky! This was grooving, this was just really funked out. The groove was flowing and EVERYONE was moving to this one-- how could you resist?? Shout-out to Joe who called it literally three seconds before it started. They again did a big pause here, we were wondering what they were going to do, and then BOOM, they went back into Sand. Wow.... in-fucking-credible jam. Meat-- MORE FUNK!! YEAH!! This was also really funked out, like even more than on Ghost [which is pretty damn funky]. It was just generally a clean and cool Meat. Mike was on with his sly, "superfly" kinda voice. Oh man it was cool. Chalkdust-- WHAT? I mean it was just weird to have Chalkdust here, but man... the place fucking exploded. Everyone was up, everyone was jumping, dancing grooving. Nothing is better than seeing 30,000 heads with their fists in the air shouting "Can i live while I'm young??!!" Decent jam on it, pretty standard, but REALLY powerful. Heh, and someone was on the complete wrong chord when they came back into the chorus at the end which provided a moment of levity. Definitley a cool song, and the more I think about it, the more magical its placement in the set seems. Bittersweet Motel-- Oh man, we needed a chill-out, and this was cool. Just a groovin' groovin' closer. My friend leaned over and said, "I would not be upset if they closed with this." And I agreed. Whatever they could've done, the set was so perfect and so magical... this was a fitting end. So the small break gave us just enough time to speculate... At first I wanted a rager.... like Possum or Scent or something that just kicks some ass, but then I heard the opening chord of the Encore, and my friend said... Waste-- Yeah, man. This was heaven. This was the epitome of my version of heaven. The smooth chords and flowing vocals pouring over me, Trey imploring all 30,000 of us to "come waste your time with me." This was what it's all about. Everyone was singing along, and you got the feeling that you'd get after ...... well an incredible experience with a bunch of cool people. Nothing could be more fitting to end this show than the gorgeous, flowing, beauteous version of Waste they did. Man, I LOVE this song now. Well I've said it all and then some. I'm writing this at 4:16 in the morning, so tommorow before I submit it I'm definitley going to edit, and see if I remember anything else, and see if I can be a little more coherent. This was without a doubt one of the greatest musical experiences of my entire life. This was astounding, this was incredible, this was unbeatable. My last show for the tour [i'm fucking broke], so I guess I'll be seeing some of ya'll at Pepsi Arena, Hershey Park, and whatever the fuck place is in Maryland come fall. I hope everyone loves the rest of the tour... lots of love and huggles -pat donnelly P.S. I don't even care that there was no IT'S ICE!! This was too good to be needing anything. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [email protected] Xlilprince on AIM, 50955972 [lilprince] on ICQ ^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^*:^ But when the lights are turning 'round The wheels are flowing on the ground The day I burn this whole place down When the circus comes to town -los lobos ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: Tue, 4 Jul 2000 16:51:25 -0400 (EDT) From: Christopher Rosenbleeth [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: July 3, 2000 The show in Camden tonight was one of the best that I've been to in my 10 show resume. The first set is rivaled only by 2nd set 12/2/97, and the 1st set 12/10/99. Down with disease: always a pleasure. It was pretty funky and good omen for things to come. Whenever they start a show really hardcore, it probably means there are good things to follow. Guelah: Good, fun, instrumental section well played. My Mind's...: 2nd time I've heard it, and all of Mike's bluegrassy tunes are a treat for me. Besides the old classic songs, this group of Phish songs are my favorite and I always look forward to hearing them. Foam: Awesome. Nuff said. Gin: Very groovy, they didn't slow it down like most of the Gin's that I've seen in person. THe rain was really comign down now, and the crowd of my 15,000 closest friends on the lawn were loving it. Hardcore instrumental section. My Soul: my first, and it was very highly appreciated. Heavy things: hated it. I'm so tired of hearing this song that I wish they would put it in the cellar, never to surface again. FLUFFHEAD!!!: I was there for the show closing Fluff last year, and this was just as special. I could have gone after this, but there was much mor to come. Circus: nice touch, thought it was the set closer, but... ANTELOPE: this made the first set such a rival set. It built nicely, grooved and funked its way to a heavy climax. TOm Marshall was there, for the caribbean-laced "Marco Esquendolas" lines, alogn with one of his own. Runaway JIm: The jam in the middle of this blew my mind. Every memeber of the band was totally in sync as they spaced it out, an then grooved it back home. THe middle section was very reminiscent of the middle Disease jam in the Weekapuag on 12/2/97. I was so psyched...it made the wet socks well worth the trouble. Glide: first time, hopefully it won't be the last. The all fall down signals are always welcome, as is any of the secret language. Theme: a nice touch in the middle of the set. Sand: very funky, thankfully not as spacey as PNC last thursday. Another Farmhouse song that could probably stand to be shelved for a while, I am sorry to say. (In fact, they should shelve the entire album). Meat: entertaining, but for me the show was over...I had been in heaven for an hour or so by now. Chalkdust: very welcome in the second set. THought the show was over with this one, but the boys slowed it down for the set closer nad the encore of Bittersweet Motel and Waste. Very fitting end to a fantastic evening. Can't wait to see what they play onthe 4th.
Date: Tue, 4 Jul 2000 03:40:02 EDT From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Subject: camden night 1 review!! Hey kids!! Just got back from this amazing show and wanted to share some thoughts with all of you. Having caught Raleigh a week ago and then having to come home, we were feeling unfulfilled but hopeful for what this 4th of July weekend would bring us. This was my 40th show and Toria's 20th show so we knew there was magic in the air for our 4020 show! We hung out in Cheeseland USA before and after the show, slingin grilledcheeses and water, met lots of kind folks and made our way in to the back of the lawn where there was plenty of dancing room. We knew we were in for a good night when the opening rumbles of Down with Disease started; This was fairly short but a scorching opener right out of the gates, they returned to the reprise after i guess ten minutes of energy filled diseasin and then talked about what to play and decided on Guelah Papyrus!! I haven't heard this song in a while, quite a treat, always love it when Mike and Trey dance!! Pulled off very well especially considering how rare it's become. My Mind's Got a mind of its Own: One of our favorite bluegrass tunes. Lots of fun! Foam: First one in two years!! Very nice indeed, off to a very good start! Bathtub: One of the highlights of the first set for me. The rain started coming down really really hard, and by the time this 15 or 20 minutes was over we were drenched. There were some true hose moments here, a point where it almost sounded like the down with disease reprise, without the riff from trey, lots and lots and lots of good stuff in here!@$@!% My Soul: fun funky phishy blues, high energy, everyone was gettin down hard! Heavy Things: It was perfect .. things were falling down on us, the rain was starting to slow by this point and we were all drenched! your standard heavy things. Fluffhead: brought to mind the Fluffhead and a half from Camden last year, not quite that good, but pretty good nonetheless. We thought this would be the closer but little did we know. Circus: One of our favorite Trey Ballads ... trey made sweet sweet love to his guitar :) Antelope: Sickness ... came to a screeching insane noisey fast climax ... We danced so hard we wanted to puke. Tom Marshall came out and did the lyrics ... been you to have any spleef mang?? then trey kept saying "Tom Marshall!@$!@$" over and over again. This is the first time in a LONG time (other than big cypress!) a phish set left us gasping for air at the end. Probably about an hour and a half for this monster of a first set, you'll wanna hear the bathtub and the antelope! Those bathrooms were scary but we made it out on time, got a big yummy pretzel and got back to our spot just in time for the beginning of Runaway Jam: this was just simple madness. From the beginning they spaced it out, straight into the alien porn funk, for a good while, then stuck in space for a few minutes, and nope, trey's not done with the funk!! We boogied and boogied until we could boogie no more, orgasmic peaks aplenty in here, this couldn't have been less than a half hour. They eventually came back to the jim lyrics and brought this full circle. I said after this ... "they don't have to play anything else .. i'm happy!!" and then !!!!! GLIDE!@$: Glide is the elusive song i've been waiting for forever and finally!! big grins for this one, it's been a while for this one too hasn't it? in the break in the final lyrics they stood around for a while, then did the all fall down signals. Theme: Always good to hear Billy Breathes stuff. Pretty standard, good ambient noise wave finish. Sand: one of the new songs I had hoped to hear. This was quite different from the ones last year, the first half had Trey and Page going off, then they locked back in with Mike and Fish and the whole band made the trance inducing bassline thick and dark and funkay. They did a little stop in the middle then launched right back into the groove, then stopped and hopped into Meat: Good meat, trey took a little solo at the end during a stop, then they launched into a scorching Chalkdust: High energy like everything else tonight, great closer ... oh another one??? ok... Bittersweet Motel: Philly phans showing the pa pride on the pittsburgh line, this one hasn't been around much lately. E: Waste: We made our way down so we could get out to the lots to start workin again , hoped for another, but this was a good way to end regardless. great great show overall, one of the best we've ever seen no doubt!!! Jim was sick sick sick , everything was tight and the band is having funfunfun!!! The fourth is gonna be madness!! :) ~toria&jeremy ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ "all good things in all good time" "people joining hand in hand, while the music plays the band, lord they're settin' us on fire!" ~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~ http://www.homestead.com/torialove/jiboo.html (updated, go look & see!) interested in buying an '84 VW Vanagon? http://www.homestead.com/torialove/VW.html
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2000 09:51:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Chris Merenda [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: 7/3/00 Review Before I even get started, a little disclaimer about my reviews: Heading into the two Camden shows, I had seen Phish 40 times and am just a fan of music. I have no musical training or background ^� I can^�t read music to save my life. Therefore, my reviews are never filled with ^�real^� musical critiques ^� they merely express my feelings and thoughts on what the band is doing onstage. That being said, here we go! I was lucky enough to get out of work at 3:00, but I still had to wait for my girlfriend, so we didn^�t leave until about 5:30. I^�m only about 2 minutes from Camden, so I managed to avoid most of the traffic through shortcuts and back roads. Growing up so close to Camden and going to school in North Philadelphia lessens your fear about driving around neighborhoods such as this one. Unfortunately, despite my good navigation, we still had to park in the garage  We started to make our way inside at about 7:10 and after standing outside Will Call waiting for about 45 minutes, we got our hiking boots on and climbed the 34,234 steps to the lawn. No matter how many times I see a show at the E-Centre, I^�m always captivated by the view of the Philly skyline from the grass. Hey, it might not be the most beautiful city in the world, but it^�s mine^� Once we picked our spot � up the lawn Trey side, I came to the horrible realization that I had lost my bowl. I went with the underwear smuggle, but somewhere along the way, it had fallen out. I thought the boxer briefs would be sung enough, but I was sadly mistaken and I lost a good friend as a result. They kicked into Down with Disease as soon as we got comfortable, right around 8:10. After reading Mr. Minors rave reviews of the Diseases this year, I settled myself in for a long ride. This one fell short in terms of length, but still got us dancing right off the bat. I didn^�t know anything about the golf cart or Trey^�s kids on stage, but I^�m curious to hear what that was all about! The rain started falling during DwD and continued to become more intense as they wove their way through Guelah Papyrus. This tune is always fun, and it was the first chance my girlfriend got to see the Asse Festival dance. My Mind^�s is probably my second favorite of the bluegrass songs (next to Blue & Lonesome) and was pretty standard. Standard = fun in this case^� As they dusted Foam off the shelf, the rain really began to fall hard and lighting occasionally lit up the night sky, which drew big cheers from the heads. I really wanted to enjoy this song, but I spent most it trying to keep stuff as dry as possible. I also became concerned that they would end the set early. Boy, was I wrong^� When it rains, it pours. And when it pours, you always get to hear Bathtub Gin. At this point, I was so wet that I may have been sitting in a bathtub! Off came the shirt and on went the grooves! I forgot all about being drenched and just relished in the fact that the boys were jamming!!! A nice, long Gin was just what the doctor ordered and I loved it! Fun, fun, fun! Unfortunately, during Gin, most of my group headed for shelter and there was just three of us left, splashing around like idiots. We also had a good view of the ten or so people that sprinted past us and dove headfirst down the hill. Looked like fun ^� I don^�t think my old bones can handle that stuff anymore though. From this point on, I thought that each song would close the set. After all, it had been about an hour and the rain was still coming down really hard. My Soul seemed like the perfect closer, and it was rocking, but once it was over, they stayed on stage and Trey gave that familiar little lick indicating that Heavy Things was next. I^�m a fan of this song ^� I love the grooves and it just makes me happy. Enough said^� I wouldn^�t have picked Heavy Things as the closer, so I was happy Trey started noodling around Fluffhead and the band joined in. I was at the E-Centre last year for the epic Fluff, so I was fully prepared for an all-out assault. However, Trey seemed to be missing in some spots and the song never really reached peak energy. The crowd was filled with energy, but it just seemed something was missing. I was a little disappointed that they were closing the set with a sub-par version of any song. I guess they agreed because Trey decided to make up for it by pouring his heart into another beautiful When the Circus Comes. This song is just filled with so much emotion and passion and I love hearing it anywhere. Since they had closed sets in Holmdel with ballads, I thought FOR SURE that Circus was the end. But again, the band refused to leave and instead quietly slipped into Antelope. This was pure badlam ^� people were going nuts, Trey was all over the place ^� it was just phenomenal. Right before the first (final?) verse, Trey briefly walked towards the side of the stage and when he returned, he brought with him a very tall man ^� good ol^� Tom Marshall! Having grown up in New Jersey, I^�m lucky enough to have seen Tom onstage with Phish many times, but to hear him sing the first words he ever wrote for them brought a huge smile to my face. Of course, he couldn^�t miss the chance to slide in the always-neglected ^�spliff^� reference. Trey belted out the ^�gearshift^� line and then tried to get the big guy to come back out for a curtain call, but you know how shy he can be. Finally, the song ended and the band actually left the stage. I looked at my watch ^� an hour-and-a-half??!!! I guess they heard the complaints over the short sets at PNC and wanted to kick us all in the ass! Either that, or they were waiting for Tom Marshall to appear (or ^�prepare^�) 50 minute setbreak, most of which was spent shivering and trying to salvage a dry cigarette. Runaway Jim opened the second set and if I had heard before the show that we were going to get a � hour Jim, I probably would have been less than thrilled. I would have pictured something dark, something that you can^�t dance to and spend most of the song staring at the purple lights. However, this particular Jim was 30 minutes of pure ecstasy! Not a down point during the whole song ^� foot loose and fancy free! There was maybe 5 minutes of slow, ambient-like jamming, but it was right in the middle and a nice break from boogying. My buddy looked over at me when they went back into the chorus at the end and just mouthed, ^�Holy shit^�^� A long conference followed Jim, and I think they were just trying to catch their breath (or give us the chance to catch ours!) While they were trying to decide what to play, Fishman kicked around the Glide hi-hat. I^�ve heard it before, and the rest of the band usually laughs it off and plays something else. This time, I guess someone besides Fish thought it would be fun and Trey ripped out the opening riff. I was totally psyched ^� I hadn^�t heard this live in over 5 years. And I tell you what, this song wasn^�t just cool as a novelty ^� it was just fun, bottom line! The crowd was so quiet and appreciative and this made it so much more enjoyable. Before the final ^�Gliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide,^� there was a long Divided Sky-like pause, maybe 3 minutes or so (which seemed like 300 minutes). I thought I heard Trey tease the silent language, but before I could call it, Trey hit the downward spiral and down they went! Awesome ^� crowd going totally nuts! Theme was typically gorgeous and gave me to opportunity to enjoy some time with my girl. But the chill feeling gave way to the thumping bass of Sand. It^�s so weird to hear Mike just pound the same chords for 10 minutes and I found myself thinking about how he feels about that. Big-time funk during this song, as would be expected. They brought the jam to a dead stop (god, I love that!) and after another conference, picked it right up where they left off. The funk didn^�t stop here, though. Meat was oozing and also featured some cool start-stop jamming. As with Fluffhead, I was expecting a kick-ass version of Chalkdust since they blew the doors off with it here last year. But this one was standard, which is not to say it was bad. Of course, I again mistakenly thought the set would end, but they instead brought out Bitterwsweet Motel and while I would have liked to share some more time with my girlfriend, she felt a higher calling and chose to answer it then rather than wait until post-show. Fortunately, she made it back for most of the Waste encore and again, if you would have told me that they would encore with a ballad, I would have been disappointed. However, there was so much emotion in the air that I just basked in the glory of this gorgeous song and wrapped my arms around her and flew through the air. These are the moments that you think about for a long time after the show^� We left the show still soaking wet, but full of joy and anticipation for the 4th. The walk back to the lots is always long in Camden, but you gotta love the acoustics as you make your way under the overpass. Good drumming by the time we got there! So, there^�s my thought and feelings regarding this show, the 3rd of July, 2000. I^�ll weigh in with my opinions on the second night a little later on ^� feel free to chime in with your thoughts as well! Peace, Merenda
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2000 18:32:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Iii William F Luke [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Re: 7/3 Review Wow, that is the one word i can think of to describe this show. It was unreal. Being my 34th show, and i've been to every festival since The Clifford Ball, i must say this EASILY ends up in my top 3(along w/ BC, and Walnut Creek '98). DWD rocked, and then we got a Guelah, My Minds, and a Foam, SWEET!!! The rest of the show was also absolutely insane. Even Heavy Things was rockin'. The energy level of everyone around me was great, and CK was on the money(as he always is). I'm not going to break down every song because they're all going to say the same thing: PHAT, PHAT, PHAT!! SEE YA'LL IN ALBANY BILL
Date: Tue, 04 Jul 2000 11:11:15 -0400 From: "[email protected]" [email protected] To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Newsgroups: rec.music.phish Subject: REVIEW: 7/3/00 Camden, NJ Phish 2000 continues to kick ass and take names. At the risk of sounding like Mister Minor I must declare this another incredible show. I was on the lawn for this one (my 13th show, 3rd of 4 this summer), and in the midst of an intense thunderstorm during the first set. If you hear random cheers on your tape, that's us reacting to the lightning. But I'd sit through a hurricane to see the boys if they continue to play as well as they are playing now. Around 8 they came out and though they didn't do the feedback intro as in Holmdel, the spacy effects and the rumbling of Mike's bass indicated... Down with Disease - Hard-rocking, well done although not exceptional. Great way to get us going. In the middle of the song the rain started coming down. A nice nod to us wet souls "dancing on the lawn." Guelah Papyrus - Tight. Asse Festival section played perfectly. A trend that would continue throughout the set. My Mind's - My first. Rollicking. Is it just me or is Mike singing especially well this tour? Foam - Wow. First since Worcester '98. You know they know they're playing well when they dust off a tricky composition like this one and nail it perfectly. Gin - Here's where it REALLY started to come down - both the rain and the "hose" from the band. As in Holmdel, they just kept building and building momentum with this intense groove. As the tempo of the storm increased, so did the tempo of the band. Unreal. This was shorter and funkier than the Holmdel Gin but every bit as satisfying. To top it all off, Trey teased "Philadelphia Freedom" THREE times! My Soul - more tightness, more groove. Another first for me. Heavy Things - appropriate for the situation: "Things are falling down on me." However the rain stopped in the middle of this one. Did not seem to get the crowd in hysterics as much as at Holmdel but maybe that's just a lawn/pavilion contrast. They played it fine, though. Fluffhead - I'm convinced the band associates specific songs with specific venues, and the passionate set-closing Fluffhead from Camden '99 could have been on their minds. As with Asse Festival and Foam, the tricky composed parts were nailed for the most part. For those keeping score Trey made one mistake (the big note at the end of Clod) but I think that was a missed cue more than a bum note and he recovered quickly. Didn't mar an otherwise spectacular performance. I was sure that was the end of the set, but no... Circus - very well-sung by Trey. All the emotion you want from this piece was there. Despite the recent trend of closing sets with ballads, I told my friend Carl that since the set was already very long, maybe they would push it over the edge and give us our long-due YEM. Close... Antelope - was not expecting this. Not as wild as Holmdel but very intense and quite funky in the pre Rye-Rye-Rocco section. Then there was this huge cheer and I couldn't tell what was going on, until the video screen finally panned to Tom Marshall! "Bid you to have any... SPLIFF, man?" He was very emphatic about it. That's 3 Marshall appearances in 13 shows for me. A perk to living in NJ, I guess. At 1:40 or so this set was as long as the 1st set & setbreak combined at each night of Holmdel. When they are playing this well, and don't have an early curfew, why not keep going? Gin and Antelope were the best jamming moments, but what really struck me was their willingness to tackle (successfully) the tricky composed pieces. That's a band playing with confidence, and a good harbinger for a 2nd set. After a 51 min. setbreak they reemerged and started... Runaway Jim - This opened Carl's first show, 4/23/93, and the first show we saw together, 7/1/94. Neither of us had seen it since. I turned to him and said "they've gotten a little more experimental with this one since then." Boy was that right. They got a groove going, then they diverged into Zappa-esque trickiness, where it seemed everybody was playing something different, using strange time signatures, etc. The dancing on the lawn pretty much stopped and people seemed a bit confused. This portion stimulated my brain but not my gut. Some will probably declare it boring. At one point Fish hit the hi-hat and I figured a segue to Bowie or Maze, but they kept going. But then, they started up another groove, and locked into a momentous jam, along the lines of Holmdel's Drowned. They brought this to a screaming climax and then returned to properly finish the song. Wow. 33 minutes. One for the history books. Then there was a long conference, and Trey and Mike were having a heated discussion. I'm sure Trey was feeling the special vibes in the air and wanted to bring out a rarity. Maybe he was asking Mike to do Mound? No such luck, but we got a nice "consolation prize": Glide - My first, and the first since Alpine '99. I really hate the studio version but they bring it with force live. Like Foam, this was very tight despite being in mothballs for so long. Then they played with our minds again. They dragged out the pause before the final "GLI-IIIIDE" for over a minute. Then when we thought they were going to sing it, they did the "All Fall Down" signal and fell down! No WAY were we falling on the wet lawn, though. Then they got back up and finished it. For the next selection Fish started up the hi-hat, and I thought we might get the Maze or Bowie hinted at in the Jim but instead it was... Theme - Again very well done - and very appropriate for the waterlogged crowd. The wall of noise at the end was as mesmerizing as ever. And then, omigod... SAND - This is not merely the funkiest Sand ever. Call me crazy, but I think this was the funkiest PERFORMANCE ever. (By the boys, that is. I love them and all but George Clinton they ain't.) It sounded like a '97 Ghost. I'm not kidding. Mike and Fish just attacked the beat from the start, and I have never heard them groove harder. There were no delay loops or Trey keys here. Just straight-up hardcore funk. I am not a dancer at all but I was doing some SERIOUS ass-shaking. That in and of itself should tell you how funky this was. Trey and Page kept pace with some mellifluous guitar and synthesizer runs, and then they got into the weird funk effects. I thought Issac Hayes was in the house. Absolutely mindblowing. Then, as with the 6/28/00 Mike's, the groove ground to a halt, they paused for about a minute, and then started churning the same groove again before stopping altogether. Best Sand ever? Depends on your tastes. But it must be considered. Meat - The Funk was too deep. More groove, more false endings, more great vocals from Mike. Chalkdust - Again with the song-venue association. They tore down the structure of this one here last year, and on this night they got experimental again. It was not "out there" like Camden '99 but they were doing lots of intricate stuff while maintaining the basic structure. This will sound great on tape. Chalkdust is often a set-closer, and we were nearing midnight (which I'm sure kicks in some sort of overtime rules) so I figured that would be it, so there was a collective gasp when they started the uncommon... Bittersweet Motel - very sweet, not so bitter. Another set-closing ballad. I figured the encore would have to be short so I wasn't surprised that we got... Waste - very appropriate. One, it is one of Tom's best lyrics so it makes sense to do it in his presence. Two, given how long the sets were (1:40-plus 1st set, 1:20-plus 2nd set), we did indeed "come waste our time" with Phish. 3 shows this tour and 3 keepers. I can't fathom what they're going to spring on us tonight (HARPUA! PLEASE!). Must... have... more... Phish... Stunned, Erik Swain
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 21:28:23 -0400 From: "Kresge, Matthew S." [email protected] To: "'[email protected]'" [email protected] Subject: camden review 7-3-00 Just a side note to those of you reading the reviews: I don't know the quantities of drugs that some of those who made reviews for this night were on, but I must clarify that the 'Foam' from this night was not that impressive. Don't get me wrong, It's great that they dusted it off and played it, but it wasn't as impressive as many of you think remember, which is fine. Christ, you can't expect perfection when it's been two years since you've played a masterpiece like that. They are human (something I think too many of you forget). Listen to the tapes, I think some of you may reconsider. The reason I am addressing this is because people come to this review page to find out what they missed, but sooo many of you seem to think that every note, chord and jam was dipped in gold, and you often convey that in your reviews. I just think that some of you should stop the drinking and rolling and actually listen well if your intend on providing reviews for those who were unfortunate unough to miss out. That's all!
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